Getting to the start line was a close run thing, but it was all worthwhile...
Amazingly I made it to the start of the 4th round of the Endurancelife’s 7x7x7 challenge. I ran round 3 with a strapped up ankle due to a plantarflexion injury from falling over a friend’s dog two days after round 2. Running a marathon on such an injury is not text book but at the time I had minimal problems. However, over the following weeks I began to get more and more problems with the back of my ankle and calf. Was it Achilles tendonitis? Or was it Achilles bursitis? The Friday morning the day before the Beesands marathon it became apparent that it was more likely posterior impingement syndrome secondary to the injury. All along I’d felt that the ankle was not properly aligned. I needed to get some advice/treatment quick or else the reality was the marathon whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifas off.
Thankfully I managed to get hold of Chris Gazeley (Osteomyologist) at the Gazeley Clinic, Iron Acton, Bristol and he very kindly saw me that morning. As suspected I’d manipulated my ankle (i.e. put it out of place) at the time of injury, and bio mechanically this had led to my tibula and fibula seizing up, strained muscles etc. As Chris put it – you can’t run if your tibia, and especially fibula, aren’t moving. Well you can, but it leads to problems!! I then spent the treatment breathing through the pain of having my tib/fib and my fibula head manipulated, plus trigger pointing on my soleus (calf) and plantar facia (foot). I then asked Chris if he thought I’d be mad to run an off road marathon the next day? His reply – anyone who runs marathons is mad, but you’ll be fine now! I left his clinic feeling sore but happy, armed with further advice on what to do pre-race.
Hubby Pete was also able to make it to this round so I was able to have a warmer, more sociable, night in the van. Overnight there was lots of rain but as with previous events the rain had subsided by the morning and the day looked promising. I’d taken my trusty Inov8 roclite shoes to run in, Pete had a selection! Thankfully he listened and went for the roclite shoes too. The size of the puddles on the ground near the van suggested that it might be a bit muddy on route. I was right! Later at the race briefing Gary the race director also mentioned mud as one of the risks en route, as well as numerous others including rocks, roots, branches, cliffs, steps, sheep, mad cows, mad farmers, tractors, fellow competitors. He also mentioned ‘a surprise’ in the village of Beesands.
At 9am the race officially started, though this time around all competitors had to ‘dib’ which allowed a staggered start. Consequently it wasn’t such a mad dash. Soon the Beesands surprise was revealed to us: a little deviation onto the beach instead of staying on the road through the village. Just beyond the steps up from the beach was the start of the coastal path. I’d done the half marathon a few years previously but forgotten just how beautiful this section is. The first 11.4 miles was totally on the coastal path running up and down past Start point and Prawle point to the coastline opposite Salcombe. It was made all the more beautiful by the glorious day (yes I was over dressed!). The views were far reaching and it was an impressive sight of the competitors strung out along the path way into the distance (and behind). Extra interest was provided by the helicopter filming the event and the aforementioned mud. Yes lots and lots of deep thick slippery mud. At times it was more of a skate than a run, but still lots of fun.
Despite feeling overly tired before the start (not a good way to be before heading off on a 27.6 mile multi terrain run!), the section along the coast path invigorated me.
Jue enjoying the coastal path beyond Start Point
However, once off the coastal path onto the tracks and minor roads inland it became much more of an effort. On the steeper hills I was reduced to a walk by my lack of energy and my calf complaining (or was the latter just a good excuse to walk?!). Thankfully I kept eating and drinking or who knows what would have happened. On the more off road sections I felt a little better. However, the road sections were more of a drag! The only consolation was that I wasn’t alone in the suffering!
My interest was kept up by some fun, fast sections down a steep grassy hill and through the woods beyond. The northern part of the course was also interesting including a section on a raised boardwalk through a marshy area and then by the side of the river and waters of Slapton Ley to Slapton Sands. From there the last 2.6 miles was back on the coastal path. Mostly it was flat with a sting in the tail to get up and over Limpet Rocks, with the reward of the sight of the finish flags from the top. It was a slow walk up but a fast run back down, with the momentum somehow keeping me going the last few hundred meters to the finish. I reckon I’d lost about 16 minutes on my usual competitors, but I’d made it! The time was irrelevant. I was very pleased just to have finished as I’d not expected to be able to start and had run the last 16 miles or so on empty!
I felt very tired afterwards. I managed to drive the first part of the journey home but then handed over to Pete. I fell asleep for the rest of the journey, went to bed early, and slept again (after breakfast in bed!) until lunchtime. Then I went to bed early that night. I’m still overly tired and just don’t feel well. I guess it was more that just the physical exertion of the race. But despite all this I still hope to be at Little Haven at the end of March for round 5. These events are too great to miss.
Thanks again to the Endurancelife team for another great event and to Chris Gazeley for making it possible for me to run.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Jue James at Round 4 of Endurancelife’s 7x7x7 challenge, Beesands, South Devon (27/2/10)
Munro bagging with a difference
Ski touring in the Cairngorms.
Just back from an amazing few days in Scotland, ski-touring in the south east Cairngorms. Conditions are absolutely brilliant at the moment, all the snow has accumulated over the past few months and has settled after a recent spell of warmer weather. I got to ski some Munros for the first time and over three days accumulated nine new ones. The photos are of us skiing off An Socach and skinning up Carn Gheoidh.
For once a week's leave from work has coincided with a spell of high pressure over the UK. I am heading to the Lakes tomorrow for some more long days of running, getting my legs ready for a go at a faster Bob Graham at the end of April.
Glasgow to Edinburgh Double Marathon
Several firsts here, my first race as a Team Inov 8 athlete, my first blog for Team Inov-8, my first Ultra Marathon for 2010 and I finished…
On Saturday I toed the start line apprehensively of the second running of the Glasgow to Edinburgh Double Marathon, a fairly recent addition to the Ultra calendar which appeared to be growing in popularity with a 100 entrants this year compared to small field of 20 last year and, even the lengthening of the course by nearly 2 miles to 56miles hadn’t put entrants off!<
The race follows the Forth & Clyde and Union canals and takes in the Antonine Wall which I couldn’t remember seeing and the Falkirk Wheel before leading competitors into the heart of Edinburgh finishing at the Edinburgh Quay; we were told at the start ‘just keep the canal on your left and you wont go wrong!’ so no need to navigate on this Ultra.
The forecast was for a great spring day perfect for Ultra running, and I had a superb support crew in Paul Hart and Dougie Brown both experienced endurance runners from Dumfries Running Club to help along the way at the five checkpoints.
The race started very swiftly with two Scottish International 100km Athletes Grant Jeans and Stephen Mason taking an early lead, I opted for a cautious start running in a small pack chatting to Lucy Colquhoun for a couple of miles, till I decided my legs had warmed up and increased my pace to just under 7min/mile.
With the course following the canal towpath it made for a very flat course underfoot conditions ranged from tarmac to slippery sticky mud which made the going tough at times and, this was theme for the whole route which made trying to keep at a continuous steady pace difficult.
After about 8miles I soon closed down on Stephen Mason in second place and went straight past him, trying to keep my pace steady and not worry how far Grant Jeans was in front, I went through the first checkpoint at 13miles in 1hr 30mins; 6minutes down on the leader, so with a fresh fuel bottle in my bumbag and sunglasses on as the weather was starting to get really nice I continued my pursuit of Grant.
The next stage to the Falkirk wheel had the worse underfoot conditions of soft sticky mud which just clung to the trainers and weighed them down sapping the energy out of the legs and, causing me to zig zag across the path to find solid ground. The path became easier just beforeBonny Bridge as I got closer to the Falkirk Wheel our second checkpoint, where my support crew refuelled me and informed me that I had only taken 30seconds out of Grants lead.
I climbed the only hill in the course next to the amazing feet of engineering the Falkirk Wheel to join up onto the Union Canal which I would follow all the way to Edinburgh. I was surprised how picturesque the course was turning out to be specially with the different views from what I was expecting a rather monotonous canal run, like seeing the Ochills covered in snow the over side of the Forth Estuary as I started to leave Falkirk. The canal then goes through a very long dankly lit long tunnel which was a really bizarre experience as water dripped down from the tunnel roof.
Shortly after the tunnel I passed through the first marathon in 2:58.20 and a few miles later noticed Grant up ahead and trying to not speed up closed the gap and at 29.5 miles moved up into first place, just as my right thigh tightened up with cramp which was a common theme for the rest of the race.
I was able to maintain my lead on the following stage after Linlithgow to Broxburn where my Forerunner started having reception problems and showed my pace ranging from 14min/mile to sub 6min/mile pace, it even later on in Edinburgh started thinking I was going backwards as I saw the distance I had covered decreasing as I was moving forward!
From Broxburn there was a short 5mile section to Ratho where the final checkpoint was before the last section into Edinburgh began and the pain and monotonous of the route really started to kick in mainly due to not knowing my pace or distance with my Garmin playing up but also with being in the built up area of Edinburgh not knowing how soon the finish would appear.
Finally I could see the end of the canal but not the finish as it was conveniently hidden round a corner, I tried a sprint finish but only managed a small increase of my pace as I exuberantly crossed the finish line in 6:22:56, 18minutes ahead of the rest of the field place and, a new course record.
A great way to start the year off!
Monday, 8 March 2010
Back to winning ways...
Open5 Success
A good race both on bike and foot means a return to the top of the table.
After a win at a local night mtb score event and good run out orienteering around Coledale on Thursday night, last week was topped off by a gloriously sunny day of Adventure Racing in and around Sedbergh in the Western Dales. After being too optimistic on the bike in the South Pennines, we looked at this map differently, and as well as route choices, we decided which controls we would prefer to drop before the start.
Once we had started and knew the control values the plan was confirmed - we'd drop one far out control on the bike and aim to leave plenty of time for the run. The bike went smoothly, with fabulous riding on the fast and dry trails. Coming into transition after exactly 3 hours gave us the confidence to stretch out on the run, our X-talons proving once again the perfect race shoe on the varying terrain - rock, ice and mud, hardpack, steep fell and grassy fields. We left one run control worth only 5 points and headed off the fell to where solid navigation through a maze of farms and footpaths brought us in to finish 14 minutes early. 580 points out of 600, our highest total so far in these events.
Looking forward to racing as well again in North Wales on Easter Monday for the final Open5 of the season.
Owain Llyr James
During the 20km bike leg.
Finishing my 5km run to come in second in my first senior triathlon.Triathlete Owain Llyr James was in action again last weekend, competing in his first senior triathlon. Owain is currently sponsored by Revolution Bikes of Bangor and Team Inov 8, and competed in the Pwllheli triathlon on a cold sunny morning, with 71 athletes taking part.
This race came on the back of Owain’s aquathlon win at Aberystwyth in February.
No 1 and first to go in the pool was Owain, with a 30 second break before the next athlete started. A good swim by Owain saw him having the best swim time of the day by a margin of 43 seconds in a 400m swim time of 5 minutes 18 seconds. Next discipline was a 12 mile time trial, before returning to the leisure centre at Pwllheli for the start of the 5km run around the harbour in Pwllheli. With about 300 meters to go on the run stage Owain was passed to come in second.
G3 Fell Race Series Win!
I still worked hard though and finished in 8th place overall, 4 mins 20 down on the men's race winner but 5 mins 26 clear of the next woman.
The Lakes
I've had two weekends up in the hills in the lake district, in glorious sun and tshirt/shorts temperatures in the last month and I am starting to believe it's always sunny there!
(picture above Pike o Blisco in Feb)
This weekend, after being put back together by Kim I had enough range of movement in my hip to do a bit of work on my ascending skills! I had decided the open5 wasn't the moment to check I could run or bike so on saturday I headed off up Harter Fell on a gentle run to test the waters, and as that was ok ish, I decided to recce the Coniston fell race route on the Sunday. Best idea ever! Blue sky and snow made for great views, and wetherlam proved a challenge to practice ascending on! I wore my Mudclaw 330s which coped well, even on the compact frozen snow, although I did take a bit more care on the sheet ice we found going up swirl how. The X talons Wil was wearing appeared to do a better job on the slippier sections (but I think part of that was who was wearing them....)
The best line down from Old Man was dangerous due to compact snow ( I didn't fancy a repeat of my sledging incident off Red Brook in the Kinder Trial - There was further to go off Old Man!) so we diverted a bit - will have to check it out again before the race. Now I have to wait and see if my entry made it in in time! Fingers crossed!
